IHG and its partner Epelboim Development Group recently broke ground on EVEN Hotel Miami Airport, a $33 million project that is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2018. Located at 3499 NW. 25th St. near the Miami International Airport, the project was financed by a $20 million construction loan provided by Hall Structured Finance. The EVEN-branded hotel also received approximately $12 million in financing from more than 20 Latin American investors through the EB-5 Visa program, which allows foreigners to live in the U.S. if they make an investment of at least $500,000 in a commercial enterprise that would create or preserve at least 10 full-time jobs for qualified U.S. workers. According to the developers, the EVEN Hotel Miami Airport is expected to generate approximately 300 jobs.

In 2015, Epelboim acquired the 1.85-acre former industrial site for $3.8 million, The Real Dealreported.

The seven-story hotel was designed by Dunedin-based DLW Architects for wellness-minded travelers and includes 190 guest rooms, as well as 4,200 square feet of meeting space and parking for 145 vehicles. Coral Gables-based Trust Hospitality will operate and manage the facility, while the project’s general contractor is Civic Contraction of Miami.

With two hotels already completed in Midtown Manhattan and Brooklyn and two others in Norwalk, Conn., and Rockville, Md., this is EVEN’s first foray in southern Florida. Eight additional hotels are in various stages of development across the country.